In this invention we disclose an optical signal receiver with improved light collection means in view of non-line-of-sight communication systems; however this approach is applicable for a variety of other arrangements: laser radars, remote sensing equipment, satellite communications, line-of-sight free space communication systems and others.
Secure laser communications through the atmosphere with non-line-of-sight (NLOS) reception capabilities are of great interests for commercial links and for military applications. Optical scattering in the atmosphere (Rayleigh and Mie) by gas molecules and aerosols provides the fundamental mean that enables NLOS communications. Reception of the laser signal, however, is challenging because of the small number of scattered photons that make their ways to the receiver and also a substantial solar background radiation that mask the signal light. Space-diversity via multiple aperture reception is an effective technique to mitigate the photon-starved transmission. Conventional space-diversity receiver combines multitude of electronic signals from multiple photoreceivers positioned along the projection of the transmission path of the optical beam. Each photoreceiver add its own thermal and dark current noise to the signal independently such that the overall noise grows as the number of photoreceiver. Furthermore, the complexity of the electronics and power dissipation increases as well.
There is a need for an efficient solution for the low intensity optical beam receiving in systems with laser beam propagation through the atmosphere.